Fedora 16 Desktop Linux Operating System Now in Beta Release

The Fedora Project is proud to announce the beta release of its free cutting-edge Linux operating system, Fedora 16, code-named “Verne.” Fedora offers some of the latest free and open source technology, integrated into a Linux distribution that anyone can freely download, use, modify, and redistribute. This beta release includes virtualization and GNOME 3 enhancements, as well as a preview of various cloud solutions for the Linux operating system.

The Fedora Project is a worldwide community of more than 20,000 collaborators who help advance the cause of software freedom. These contributors interact to create a vibrant, growing community dedicated to the advancement of free and open source software. The most anticipated product of this community is Fedora, the operating system released by the project approximately every six months. Fedora represents the culmination of work by hundreds of engineers and thousands of contributors from many different locations and many different walks of life.

Software enthusiasts are encouraged to download the release and help identify items that need attention before Fedora 16 is generally available. With the beta release, the software is relatively stable, but real-world use and reports from users helps identify any lingering bugs so they can be addressed before it is distributed.

Try out these new and enhanced features in the Fedora 16 beta release:

Cloud

Aeolus Conductor, a web user interface and tools to create and manage cloud instances across a wide variety of cloud types.

OpenStack, a collection of services that can be used to setup and run a cloud compute and storage infrastructure.

HekaFS, a cloud-ready distributed parallel filesystem built on top of GlusterFS for a permanent shared service with features for authentication and authorization, encryption, multi-tenancy, and configuration management.

Pacemaker-cloud, an application service for high availability in a cloud environment.

Virtualization

SPICE enhancements, an open source solution for virtualized desktops with USB sharing between guests and audio volume messages between guest and client.

Virtual Machines Lock Manager, a daemon to prevent a virtual machine's disk image from being written to simultaneously by two QEMU/KVM processes to protect a user from starting the same virtual machine twice or adding the same disk to two different virtual machines.

Virt-manager Guest Inspection, a display of the operating system and applications within a guest to allow read-only browsing of guest filesystems and the Windows Registry.

GNOME 3

GNOME 3.2 support, the first update release of the GNOME 3 series, featuring management of online services accounts with integrated contacts and documents, improved chat capabilities, and desktop enhancements, such as touchscreen and color management capabilities.

GNOME Input Integration, a unified input indicator for the Gnome-shell designed to facilitate switching between keyboard layouts and input methods.

Download the beta and please give us your feedback. And, keep an eye out for the general availability of Fedora 16 later this year. To download the beta release for Fedora 16, please visit here. For more information on these and other Fedora 16 features, please visit here.

The Fedora Project is a Red Hat-sponsored community project. For more information about Fedora, please visit here.